Bodily Rebellion

Let me clear something up real quickly with regards to my last post. I have an excuse for still being in my PJs with messy, yucky ponytail hair . . . I had been working from home for most of the day (with the exception of a quick mid-morning cleaning frenzy) and just “hadn’t gotten around to” taking care of that whole getting dressed/personal hygiene thing. So yeah . . . I’m not quite as lazy as you might think. I just work a lot, is all ☺

And I actually had planned on running that evening, considering I only got ONE run in during the preceding work-week . . . but Guitar Hero just seemed like a much better use of my time (I am sleep-deprived, what can I say?) As sorta/kinda disappointed as I was in myself for choosing a silly video game over running, I learned yesterday that perhaps it was for the best.

Yesterday, I attempted a long run of seven miles. It should have been a piece of cake by now. But sadly, that simply wasn’t the case. Wilson and I set off for the park at the rather late hour of 5:00 p.m. Even, as we were just starting out, I was feeling pretty ragged and run-down—but I figured it was only natural, considering my crappy 70+ hour stress-a-thon of a work week. Wilson and I kept trucking along, and I kept hoping maybe my tiredness was just a “phase” I would snap out of once I got into a decent rhythm. Well, unfortunately, I never quite got into that rhythm. We stopped at a water fountain somewhere around mile-4 to get a quick drink, and it was nearly impossible for me to get going again. I used every trick in the book to attempt to delay the inevitable . . . took 5 separate drinks from the fountain, stretched out every part of my body, pulled my ipod out of my pocket and searched for a song to get me motivated . . . EVERYTHING. Finally, Wilson convinced me to get moving again.

We took off, and I immediately could tell that my body was just not going to make it to seven miles. About a half mile later, I was literally dragging my legs behind me . . . I was so far beyond a shuffle, it wasn't even funny. I was just way too exhausted to continue on, and felt like I might collapse at any second . . . So I abruptly stopped. Wilson was all, “wtf?!” and stopped too. I explained my issue to him, and he suggested that a) I should quit my job (so helpful!), and b) maybe I should just walk a short loop (2 miles), whereas he would finish running the big loop (3.35 miles), and we could meet back at our little entrance to the park.

I was not a happy camper--I was practically in tears about the whole thing. I tried to convince him to let me run the rest of the run with him, but I knew deep down inside that it was probably one of those super pesky times when it was best to listen to my body. So I reluctantly told Wilson to continue on his way, and I took the turn off for the smaller loop. Only apparently I momentarily forgot about the whole “listening to my body” thing . . . because I immediately started running again. I decided I would try to at least finish the small loop, which would put me at a little over 6 miles for the day. Unfortunately, my body was SERIOUSLY pissed at me for not listening to it, and it decided to make it so that I couldn’t NOT listen to it. I covered another half-mile before I realized my body just wasn't willing to make it the rest of the way. I grumpily slowed to a walk, and finished the last mile up at a pace so slow, I could have most likely walked on my hands faster. I finished up with 5 measly miles of running. My (running) splits were as follows:

Mile 1: 10:04
Mile 2: 10:07
Mile 3: 9:35
Mile 4: 9:36
Mile 5: 10:03

Hmfph. I had no idea we sped up so much during miles 3 and 4 . . . but um yeah. That probably didn't help matters any. Anyway, the plan for now is to get a LOT of rest this week, with some easy runs and cross-training mixed in there. I'm also going to go to the doctor and get a physical (gasp!) But not yet . . . ha, I have to work my way up to that one ;) It's quite a BIG step for me . . .